Breathe. Realizing your child is having reading struggles can feel like a big blow. It doesn't have to be, though.
Tips
- Stay positive. Your student is likely as frustrated as you are. Don't add your frustrations to their struggles. Talk to a spouse or friend about your frustrations so you are giving your child all the positivity they need to succeed.
- Go slow. Be gentle with your child, but be gentle with yourself as well. Supporting a student with dyslexia can take a lot of resources. Give both of you grace in the process.
- Step by step. Continue to pursue support for your student while you both learn about their specific gaps and needs. Learning is hard work.
- Consistency is a key to treating dyslexia.
Tricks
- Make it a game. Giggle together.
- Rewards. As we said above, learning is hard work. Have rewards scheduled in for effort rather than arbitrary pacing. Maybe you can toss a football together after a tutoring session.
- Affirm them. Every chance you get point out to them where they're smart, or kind, or diligent. Also affirm their efforts at reading: “I'm so proud of how hard you try,” and “I can see what an effort you make. I'm so proud of you.” They don't always see themselves as successful compared to other kids who can easily read. So they need to see it through your eyes.
Helps
So often parents are eager and anxious to help their student learn to read. Here are some wonderful resources. It's a free website specifically for homeschool parents, but these helps for parents of dyslexic children can be applied in a variety of settings.